Music & entertainment

J-pop: Sing and dance your way to stardom.

J-pop thumbnail: about 15 girls stand on stage holding microphones and with one arm pointing skyward — © kndynt2099¹ (CC BY-SA 2.0²)

J-pop³ (Wikipedia)

J-Pop’s dream factory⁴ (The Guardian)

List of Japanese celebrities⁵ (Wikipedia)

TV Stars⁶ (Japan Zone)

Anime: Cartoons for every taste, from children’s favourites to fantasy, sci-fi, romance, drama and even horror!

Anime thumbnail: a female cartoon character with large eyes and massive ponytail tied up with a large purple ribbon — © Maya Chow (adapted)⁷ (CC BY 2.0⁸)

Anime⁹ (Japan Zone)

Tokyo Anime Guide¹⁰ (japan-guide.com)

Origins of Anime¹¹ (openculture.com)

Manga: Reading is so much more fun with pictures.

Manga thumbnail: rows of manga comics displayed on a stand — © Todd Lapin (adapted)¹², CC BY-NC 2.0¹³)

Manga¹⁴ (Wikipedia)

Manga and anime¹⁵ (japan-guide.com)

Manga and anime – Japan culture¹⁶ (Inside Japan)

Tezuka in English¹⁷ (Find out about Osamu Tezuka, an early Manga writer and creator of Astro Boy¹⁸.)

Fashion: Lead the world with cutting-edge fashion from the streets of Harajuku, Tokyo.

Fashion thumbnail: A woman with dark hair and large bow on top, and wearing a white dress; she is carrying a frilly, pink umbrella as she smile at the camera — © Jay Bergesen (adapted)¹⁹ (CC BY 2.0²⁰)

High school real talk: Fashion boosts our spirits²¹ (The Japan Forum)

Bringing seifuku to the world²² (The Japan Forum)

Expressing my world through shironuri²³ (The Japan Forum)

Harajuku fashion²⁴ (Japanese Streets)

Japan Pop Culture Views: Cosplay²⁵ (Japan Monthly, JNTO)

Taiko: Exciting and energetic drumming performances.

Taiko thumbnail: two men beat the skin of a very large drum with sticks. — © Don France²⁶ (CC BY 2.0²⁰)

Taiko²⁷ (Wikipedia)

A basic intro to taiko and why it’s awesome²⁸ (tofugu.com)

Learning new taiko music²⁹ (taikoskin blogspot)

This is a Japanese drum line!³⁰ (YouTube – 3:52)

Mt.Fuji Taiko Festival (Japanese high school drummers)³¹ (YouTube – 9:58)

Japanese drumming Taiko rhythm from drum tent WOMAD 2012³² (YouTube – 0:54)

Kabuki & noh: Japanese theatre and drama is both unique and fascinating.

Kabuki & noh thumbnail: a kabuki actor with strong face makeup and wearing a white kimono — © GanMed64 (adapted)³³ (CC BY-2.0²⁰)

Kabuki theatre³⁴ (Japan Zone)

Noh theatre³⁵ (Japan Zone)

Noh: What is noh?³⁶ (Kids Web Japan)

Invitation to Kabuki³⁷ and Introduction to Noh³⁸ (Japan Arts Council³⁹ )

What’s Kabuki⁴⁰ (Kabuki official website)

Introducing the world of Noh⁴¹ (the-NOH.com)

Koto: Musical instruments to suit all styles and tastes.

Koto thumbnail: section of a kimino showing the strings and bridges that hold the strings off the base board. — © Ted (adapted)⁴² (CC BY-NC 2.0¹³)

Koto⁴³ (Kids Web Japan)

A performance of ‘Sakura Sakura’ by professional koto player Fuyuki Enokido⁴⁴ (YouTube)

Yuko Watanabe – Smooth Criminal (cover)⁴⁵ (YouTube)

Shodou: Every word is a brush-painted masterpiece.

Shodou thumbnail: a large Japanese character — Amagase⁴⁶ (public domain)

Shodo⁴⁷ (Kids Web Japan)

Japanese Calligraphy: How to Write with a Brush⁴⁸ (YouTube video)

School of Shodo⁴⁹ (The art of traditional Japanese calligraphy)

Shodo (Japanese calligraphy)⁵⁰

Links

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AKB48#/media/File:Ax10akb18.jpg
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J-pop
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2005/aug/21/popandrock3
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Japanese_celebrities
http://www.japan-zone.com/modern/tv_star.shtml
https://flic.kr/p/4LPRPT
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en
http://www.japan-zone.com/modern/anime.shtml
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3052.html
http://www.openculture.com/2014/06/early-japanese-animations-the-origins-of-anime-1917-1931.html
https://flic.kr/p/iYUcs
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manga
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2070.html
https://www.insidejapantours.com/japanese-culture/manga-and-anime/
http://tezukainenglish.com/wp/
http://tezukainenglish.com/wp/?page_id=138
https://flic.kr/p/ncPRC
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
http://www.tjf.or.jp/clicknippon/en/mywayyourway/01/post-2.php
http://www.tjf.or.jp/clicknippon/en/mywayyourway/01/seifuku.php
http://www.tjf.or.jp/clicknippon/en/mywayyourway/01/post-1.php
http://www.japanesestreets.com/harajuku-fashion/
http://japan-magazine.jnto.go.jp/en/amusing_201102_trend.html
https://flic.kr/p/BfJy7
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiko
http://www.tofugu.com/japan/taiko/
http://taikoskin.blogspot.com.au/2010/01/learning-new-taiko-music.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNmXNc95ncU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMfFPCc7oxM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jZJ9qydVAc
https://flic.kr/p/89BugQ
http://www.japan-zone.com/culture/kabuki.shtml
http://www.japan-zone.com/culture/noh.shtml
http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/meet/noh/noh02.html
http://www2.ntj.jac.go.jp/unesco/kabuki/en/
http://www2.ntj.jac.go.jp/unesco/noh/en/nohgaku.html
http://www.ntj.jac.go.jp/english.html
http://www.kabuki-bito.jp/eng/contents/whats/vol1_broad_range_of_acting_styles.html
http://www.the-noh.com/en/world/
https://flic.kr/p/r8KDBh
http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/virtual/koto/index.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImvrPNHVTl8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMLScLUrol4
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_calligraphy#/media/File:Koku_Saitcho_shounin.jpg
http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/virtual/shodo/index.html
http://144360090164237045.weebly.com/shodo.html
http://www.shodocalligraphy.com/
http://shodo.jp/